Rand Paul thinks the gif of him at Netanyahu’s speech is dumb

U.S. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) addresses the 42nd annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) February 27, 2015 in National Harbor, Maryland. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

GOP Sen. Rand Paul (Ky.) knocked media outlets Wednesday for mocking his lackluster clapping during a high-profile address by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, captured in a gif that made the rounds on social media Tuesday.

"You know, I think what's funny about it is that you have these gossipy websites who really demean themselves by putting stuff like that out," Paul told Brian Kilmeade on Fox and Friends. “I gave the prime minister 50 standing ovations. I co-sponsored bringing him here."

Take a look at the gif at the center of Paul’s indignation, if you haven’t already seen it:

https://twitter.com/FreeBeacon/status/572806480677761024

Paul, who is seriously considering a run for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination, is known for supporting a pared-down military approach that some critics say verges on isolationism. The gif was jokingly used to sum up his stance on military intervention in a single image.

“We have gossipy websites looking at the metric of how fast you clap. I think they demean themselves by putting that out,” Paul added.

The likely presidential candidate also addressed his recent straw poll win at the Conservative Political Action Conference last week, in which he took more than 26 percent of the vote to Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker’s 21 percent.

"I think only one other person, Ronald Reagan, has won it three times. CPAC is a great event because it's full of a lot of young people. The only way you can win elections is to have that enthusiasm. We were really excited to get the victory,” he said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a joint meeting of Congress that removing economic sanctions on Iran would have terrible outcomes. Here are highlights from his speech. (Video: Sarah Parnass/The Washington Post)